The success of an inaugural festival in Orillia has organizers excited about its future.
In an effort to make the arts more accessible to intergenerational audiences, Arts Orillia organized a weeklong event called Future Fest, from Sept. 23 to 28.
Complete with lectures, discussions and various activities, it highlighted being accessible, inclusive, and engaging for all ages.
“I think it did amazingly well,” said Kate Hilliard, artistic director for Arts Orillia.
She knew the challenge with the festival’s inaugural year would be to bring out a specific demographic.
“We’ve been more connected with young people, and we have the ear of the older generations; it’s finding the in-between,” she said, referring to people with full-time jobs, navigating the world of work-life balance, and tending to busy schedules.
Taking a moment to pause, reflect and be present was the point of one art experience at the festival. Heidi Strauss’s augmented reality (AR) experience, titled You Are Swimming Here, challenges people to ask the difficult questions related to their identities and environments.
As a mother, Hilliard understands what it’s like to think about the future and face the feelings that come with those concerns. She noted Future Fest is rooted in a desire for sustainability but asks people to “feel first and think after” as a way to create dialogue.
Since art, for many, is a way to navigate thoughts and feelings, Future Fest is a platform for many voices to be heard. Hilliard believes the festival was successful at doing that and she has plans to improve aspects of it for next year.
“To see a group of seniors from the community and a group of students from Twin Lakes (Secondary School) together and everyone is holding up their phone … I think at first the immediate intrigue is, ‘Oh, my gosh. This is very cool,’ but it’s not until you do the experience and you actually walk through it that you realize the profound and deep questions that the work is asking. My hope is that people come out and do this,” Hilliard said of You Are Swimming Here.
She noted the Orillia Recreation Centre is ideal for the experience because there are always people around and the field provides a safe space for it. The hope is to keep it available beyond the festival time frame.
